CLI sets P250M stock buyback

CLI founder, president and CEO Jose Soberano with wife Marose (EVP and treasurer) and son Franco (SVP and COO)

Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI), a property developer focused on the Visayas-Mindanao (Vis-Min) market, has set aside P250 million for a two-year stock buyback program.

Companies pursue buyback programs when they deem that their shares are trading significantly lower than their intrinsic value.

The buyback program is seen to benefit shareholders while building up treasury shares for the company’s employee stock option plan.

“We are confident that offering stock options will allow us to retain and to attract the best talents,” CLI chair and chief executive officer Jose Soberano III said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The stock buyback program has been approved by CLI’s board along with the declaration of a regular cash dividend of P0.15 per share with a record date of March 23 and payment period on April 23.

CLI is expected to surpass its P1.2 billion net income target in 2017. It reported on-time completion record and reservation sales of P4.58 billion last year, exceeding its P4 billion target.

“Our growth has been exceptional and we have a strong pipeline of VisMin projects where real estate demand remains high. CLI is well positioned to deliver outstanding shareholder value,” Soberano said.

CLI, which listed on the PSE in June last year, is currently valued by the stock market at P8 billion.